Happy Earth Day 2015!

The giant earth at Riverfront Park in Salem, Oregon.

Newport, Oregon

We took a little day trip to Newport on the Oregon Coast recently. The sea lions were trying to get an afternoon nap in while lying on some floating concrete pads. But there wasn't enough room for all of them and several were trying to jump aboard and find a space to join in on the nap. But each time one would try, the sea lions who already had a cozy spot would bark up a storm. It was quite noisy. Definitely hard to get a nap during all that ruckus. Then we headed to a park near Nye Beach. The super-long slide coming off of a pretend ship was a favorite!

Arbor Week 2015

Our city has a number of heritage trees and in honor of Arbor Week people are invited to take their picture with one of them. This is a big, beautiful, old Japanese Maple. We walk past it on our way to preschool.

Orchid show and sale

A local nursery was the host to the Mary's Peak Orchid Society Show and Sale today. I arrived one hour after it started and it was already packed. The orchids on display were quite pretty and there were lots of choices available to take home.

An Outdoor Cat House

I had put a cardboard box outside for our very skittish/somewhat feral cat to sleep in during these cold wet months. My husband decided that wouldn't do, and in the matter of one afternoon constructed an outdoor cat house out of wood with a concrete board roof. The boys got to paint it the next day and the cat has approved!